The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1887-02-11
MISS HESTER'S LEGACY.
Why Amos Bore Her Brother No
Grudge.

''He's fine-lookin' man, yer say?
Wall, he's jes' ez good ez he looks,'
The speaker was an old Farmland.
whom all the neighborhood loved and
respected.
..Dew know him? Wall, ruther
guess dew. He's Miss Hester Stan
wood boy, an her n me'ye bringed
him up ever sence hewuz FIVE year ole.
'Twuz good menny year ago tibet
he come in pom Us, amos fore we
knowed theer WIZ any sech lectle chap
.a-livin. The mornin' fust hecrd bout
him I'd planned ter 90 down n the ten
acre lot a-mowin', but l couldn't seem
to start. fur Miss Hester, she 'peared to
hev suthin on her min. ez he'd druv all
content out o her.
'.Marthy Ann an me we talked t
over TO breakfas'. an she says ez how
she knowed Miss Hester hedn t ketched
n wink o sleep that night, fur her face
wuz ez bleached, Marthy Ann says ter
me. ez an old caliker gownd. So hung
roun' pickin' tater-bugs off n the patch
nigh the house, an all the time watch
ed Miss Hester n her cheer by the Sit
iin'-room winder.
II couldn't think o nothin' ter
trouble her pertick Ter. We all hez our
foggy times N this world. an our
stumblin's n damp, DOGGY swamps, an
Miss Hester she'd he'd her share right
up t the handle; but the las few years
she'd been, ez 'twuz. steppin' roun' n
purity sunshiny medderS, 'peared ter
me. All ter onct | SAYS ter myself
Plague take him! Ye don't s'pose ez
tibet pesky sample f brothers come
ter light, do YEP Purity soon l heerd
the bell a-callin' of me up from wheer l
wuzn't, in the ten-acre lot. an Marthy
Ann she tol' me ez how Miss Hester
wanted o me in the settin'-room.
".Good mornin', Amos!' says she ter
me.
".What's wantin', Miss Hcster?' says
] ter her. An she opened the subjec
Immediate, never lettin' the weeds
grow 'twixt her words.
Amos, says she, We remember my
brother Benjamin.
wall, reckon do. the nuisance"
says /. We amt neither on us likely
Ter forgit him, Miss Hester
..Shc bridled up purity smart at me.
an | sp'ose did speak out mos few
plain.
...Amos, she says. lookin' AT me very
severe, speak no i'll o the dead
Ter say tibet news o Benjamin 5
death come on me eZ an overpowerin'
s'prise fur minute don Express my
feelin's nohow. but arter leetle thought
the s'prise proved a most agree bic one.
The way l looked at t. the brother an
worriment o. Miss Hester's life WIZ
dead an buried long o Benjamin.
IAN learn from this, she says,
holdin' up a letter, 'ez his wife's dead,
lew
"A pair on 'em gone says to my
self. So fur / didn't see nothing ter
mourn over. but Miss Hester she look
ed at t different. 'Twus her last o
Kin, an mebbe' twas only nat raj fur her
ter mourn. Any how, you'd never ha'
knowed but what Benjamin had been
IN angel, fur all the remarks she let
drop bout him arter tibet day.
"'Wall, Miss Hester says /. arter
quite spell o quiet, 4 reckon I'd bes'
be a-goin' back ter the ten-acre lot.
Time an tide, an grass. Miss Hester,
don't wait fur no man.
".Stop, Almost! she saws, quickly
There's more ter tell. Benjamin lef'
a leetle boy says she, AN what dye
think, Amos, o his comm here ter us?'
Il knowed by the unusual tremblin'
o her tones ez her heart wanted tibet
boy, an she wanted me ter gree with
her; an furthermore, l knowed by an
other sign ez.she meant ter hev him,
whats ever Isays. Now t fust didn't
think t all well O. the plan. Iknowed
what kin o. tree that child wuz linz
of, an / didn't want Miss Hester pes
tered no more. / dassent speak, but
law! Miss Hester knowed what l wuz
a-thinkin' on: she'd riddle the brains
o a scare-crow!
'''Amos,' she says. with harnsom'
show o sperit, there's good blood be-
hin him; We can't gainsay it. -